Preventative Dentistry

Dental Hygiene

The dental hygienist at Philip Sommereux & Associates is a key member of the dental team, helping children and adults look after their oral health. Individuals benefit from visiting the dental hygienist approximately every three months for oral health check-ups and treatments.

Treatments with the Dental Hygienist

The role of the dental hygienist encompasses many aspects: educating patients about their oral health including nutritional eating habits and gum disease; teaching patients about caring for their dental appliances such as braces and dentures; supporting the dentist during procedures; helping individuals with gum disease and smokers in maintaining oral hygiene; and providing professional teeth cleaning and scaling service.

The dental hygienist can create a personalized oral hygiene program for you that suits your daily oral hygiene practice at home. Mouth care includes not only the teeth, but the gums, palate, tongue, inner cheeks and breath. Although we may clean our mouths daily, we need a professional to assess our oral condition and provide scaling treatments to remove hardened tartar or food debris trapped in tooth contours.

Professional Teeth Cleaning

Even though we may brush our teeth upon awaking, before going to sleep, and after meals, the mouth may not be entirely clean. Daily flossing is needed but may still not remove all plaque. Seeing the dental hygienist ensures we learn proper flossing and teeth brushing technique.

The hygienist uses power dental cleansing tools for deep teeth cleaning and for removing all plaque build-up to prevent tooth decay and gingivitis gum disease. The signs of tooth decay, gingivitis gum disease, Periodontitis and Oral Cancer may not be obvious to us. Early identification and prompt treatment helps prevent development of the disease for well being and peace of mind.